The Pirate Princess
by Dreamatorium
Summary: An AU story, in which Emma never left Fairy Tale Land, as the Evil Queen never cast her curse. The story shows Emma growing up as a Princess, meeting Killian in her youth on an adventure in Neverland and later encountering him again when he saves her from a curse that is to destroy her family's happiness.
1. Prologue

**Prologue**

The young girl snuggled up in bed, hardly able to contain her excitement. Tonight was the night her mother would tell her the story. It was a story she had only been told once before. Her mother had always told her she was too young to understand, but now that she had started school, her mother had promised the young girl to tell her this story again. It was the girl's favourite story, a fairytale only her mother knew. Her mother taught at the local school and writing stories was a hobby of hers. It was one of the stories she hadn't written down yet, but she told it as if it were a part of her and she knew every word of it off by heart. So, as she did every night, the mother tucked her daughter up in bed, but this time she needed to do some explaining before starting her story. She sat down by her daughter's bedside and asked her:

"Are you ready?"

"Ready as I'll ever be!" her quick-witted daughter replied.

"Alright then. Here goes" said the mother as she began to launch herself into the story.

"There are a few things you need to know before I start. They will help you to understand the story, I promise" the mother said smiling at her impatient daughter. She continued after a brief pause:

"Many people believe that life is made up of coincidences and chance events and although coincidences are a part of life, there is much more to life than that. It is, of course, up to us to shape our own lives. Your life lies in your own hands, in your conduct and in the decisions you make. They lead you onto the next path, the next journey and so on and so on. Hopefully, we will make the right decisions, but sometimes it simply comes down to being in the right place at the right time. So, there are coincidences, yes, but some chance meetings only seem to be coincidental when they really aren't. You see, I believe that some people meet because they are meant to, because they are destined for each other, destined to spend the rest of their lives together. This kind of meeting of two souls is what we call 'fate' or 'Providence'. The two kindred spirits that meet in this story are one such couple. Their meeting was fated from the moment they came into this world. They were meant to be together from the very beginning. They were a perfect match, really. Simply put, they were just two people who completed each other. And this is the story of how they met."


	2. A Princess is Born

**Chapter I - A Princess is Born**

Once Upon a Time in Fairy Tale Land, a world divided up into many realms, in which all fairy tale characters and creatures lived peacefully side by side, there lived a Princess whose life was to be cast into tumultuous turmoil when her family would be cursed and separated forever by an evil sorcerer called Rasputin. Until that day would come, however, she lived her life as happily as can be, fearless; never once expecting what was to lie in store for her.

This Princess' name was to be Emma. A name that was to stand for courage and resilience. A name that was to be known throughout the realm ruled by her mother Snow White and her loyal husband Prince Charming, whom Snow merely lovingly referred to as "Charming", something she had done since they first met. Emma's parents were a happy couple who had finally found their happy ending after many trials and tribulations. The only thing now missing to complete their happiness was a child, a child which was to be born this day and which was to pay a price for her courage in trying to save her family, a price that was to destroy Emma's happiness, possibly never to be restored again...

* * *

"She's in labour," Prince Charming heard the midwife call out to him, as she rushed into the library where he had been waiting patiently, trying to read to distract himself from his worry.

Snow was not having any onlookers. As always, she wanted to get through her pain on her own. "You'd better come," the midwife continued. "She needs you there, even if she would never admit it. Come, hurry!" she urged him, panting.

"I'll be there right away," Charming responded in his ever-so-gallant manner. Running up the winding staircase to their bedroom at top speed, he finally came rushing to Snow's aid.

"What are you doing here?" Snow immediately asked him reproachfully. "Didn't I tell you to...," she broke off in an exasperated tone.

"Stay away?" Charming completed her question. "Yes, you did, but I want to be here for you. I want us to go through this together, as we always do."

Snow groaned, in too much pain to respond.

"It's almost here," they heard the midwife say.

"IT?" Snow said menacingly through gritted teeth. "It...? You mean SHE."

"OK, now. Don't let me distract you. Just a few more...push…PUSH!"

And finally, Emma's first wails could be heard, as the midwife carefully held the new born in her arms. "What a beauty!" she exclaimed and handed the baby girl over to Snow to hold for the first time.

"Amazing!" Charming said awe-struck.

Snow's entire face glowed with happiness. "I will never let anything happen to you, my precious girl. My precious Emma. You hear me?" she whispered softly into Emma's ear, kissing her tiny hairless head gently.

"Yes, we will always protect you", Charming agreed, kneeling down by Snow's side. The couple could not be happier at this moment. Little did they know that their happiness would soon come to an abrupt end in but a few years' time.


	3. Matters of the Heart

**Chapter II - Matters of the Heart**

Snow White and Prince Charming had always been an exemplary couple, but they too had had their troubles. Prince Charming had not always been a prince. He grew up as a farmer's boy on the castle grounds, providing Snow White's family with fresh produce every day of the week. This is how Snow and Charming got to know each other. They had been fast friends from a very early age on. One of the things that bonded them was that both of them had endured childhood traumas.

While Charming had lost his twin brother to a dragon named Maleficent, Snow had almost lost her mother to an evil sorceress named Cora. Luckily, Snow's mother was rescued just in time by none other than Charming himself. Cora's family, the Millers, were another family living on the castle grounds near the Enchanted Forest. As head of the family, Cora had always searched for something more in life. She had great aspirations for her family and was willing and capable to do anything to escape their status in this world. She did not even shy away from murder, although the Millers were not a poor family, but that was not enough for Cora. She wanted her daughter, Regina, to be queen one day and the only way to accomplish this, was for her to marry the king. The only person she would need to rid herself of was Snow's mother who was still queen to this day, but was soon to hand over the throne to her daughter, especially now that Emma was born, the future heir to the throne.

Always being one to be at the right place at the right time, Charming had witnessed Cora's attempted murder and had managed to stop her. Snow, of course, was eternally grateful to him. She had only been ten years old at the time and Charming had always been her protector. After this incident, Cora was imprisoned in the dungeons of the castle, Regina being left motherless, although her mother had never shown her much affection or indeed love. This was something Regina had been deprived of all her childhood. All she had now was her father, but Regina was determined to win her mother's love, no matter the cost. This was why she left home at the age of eighteen, shortly after Cora was imprisoned, to find a way to win her mother's heart.

After Cora was imprisoned, Regina was crippled emotionally, engulfed by the pain of losing her mother. One day, when Regina was finally able to face her pain, she went to the dungeons to pay Cora a visit. It was on that day that Regina's mother confessed to have hidden her heart in a different realm a long time ago. As soon as Regina heard this, she decided to start a quest to find Cora's heart, so she could finally truly feel her mother's love and not the empty void that not even her father's love could fill.

As Regina was old enough to make her own decisions, she made her way into the woods the very next morning to start her journey after having packed up all her things and said farewell to her father. And although she knew very well that her mother had been rightfully imprisoned, she could not help but hold a grudge against those who had locked her up, the happy couple that had always gloated with their fairytale ending – the Charmings.


	4. Dark Hollow

**Chapter III - Dark Hollow**

The realm of Aragon, which the Charmings now called home, had not always been such a peaceful place as it was at present. This realm in particular had gone through many struggles in its time, among them was one of the most devastating and significant wars, now only referred to as "The Ogre's War". The hostilities began in 1955, approximately ninety years before Snow's birth. In the present day, the subject of the Ogre's War was hardly ever broached by the denizens of Aragon, unless it served the purpose of teaching the local children a lesson on the devastation this war had led to. Therefore, the Ogre's War mainly served as a teaching device nowadays, being discussed in Basic History lessons at the local schools. The main reason the Aragonians avoided any mention of the Ogre's War, was that the sheer thought of it was too frightening to bare. This war had shaken the entire realm of Aragon to its core. It is now thought of as the most devastating bloodbath in all of Fairy Tale Land.

On the fateful day the Ogres invaded Aragon, those monstrous creatures were led by an even more monstrous man, going by the moniker of Blackbeard. This man had a reputation of being both ruthless and reeking havoc wherever the wind took him. Once an infamous pirate of the High Sees, this marauder one day became bored with this reckless lifestyle, striving for bigger and better things. His megalomania made him a particularly treacherous enemy. With his army of Ogres in tow, Blackbeard had planned on overthrowing the Edendelle's, the royal family ruling the Northern Kingdom at the time. On top of that, he envisioned himself the sole ruler of the entire realm of Aragon, meaning to send his troops throughout the realm, overthrowing one kingdom at a time, all the while enlarging his army to incorporate a host of vile beasts, only to finally oppress the Aragonian denizens.

Queen Millicent Edendelle was an age-old ancestor of Queen Eva's who was Snow's mother. Queen Eva and her husband King Leopold were the current leaders of the Northern Kingdom. Queen Millicent held the throne almost a century before Snow was even born. Upon arrival in Aragon, it was in the Northern Kingdom that Blackbeard and his Ogre army had decided to settle down to build up their campsite. Although Queen Millicent had many loyal followers, the army of Ogres outnumbered her troops, even though all creatures and all men willing and able to fight were sent to battle. Millicent's husband, Archibald, was among the warriors. Sadly, he did not survive the onslaught, although he shone with bravery. Aragon was, however, not only home to heroes. Some of its inhabitants were not as blessed with such courage. Rumpelstilzchen was one such cowardly creature. Ever since his father became a deserter in a previous war, Rumplestilzchen's family name was tainted by dishonour. Although one of Rumplestilzchen's greatest desires had always been to outshine the reputation his father had bestowed on his family as "weaklings" and "cowards", he was unable to escape his fate. The more he fought against his own cowardess, the more he seemed to be consumed by it.

Living only a mile off from the place where Cora currently resided on the castle grounds, Rumple (as he was known in those parts) was a gentle soul, married to a woman named Milah. She had inherited her father's mill after he had passed away. While Rumple would spin fiber into yarn on his spinning wheel, Milah was part of the weaving team. Even though funds were not low, the young couple lived a fairly humble life, as Rumple preferred to be frugal. He was not one to brag about his fortune. Milah, on the other hand, had a tendency towards wastefulness. She was not happy with their way of life, although they owned a small cottage with their own patch of land. Similarly to Cora, she aspired to be among the richest in the realm one day, without taking it as far as Cora would later attempt to do. All Milah had ever wished for, was to be able to buy whatever she pleased no matter the cost. It was due to her feeling of not being fulfilled in her marriage that she attempted to find her happiness in material things. She knew they would only make her happy temporarily, but she preferred instant gratification to being frugal. She also feared she would fall into depression should she loose sight of all passion, even if that passion happened to be a love of expensive things.

Whenever Milah strolled past the jewellery stands in Everton Valley, she felt the need to treat herself. As Everton was only a ten minute carriage-ride away from their cottage, this was not a rare occurrence. Everton Valley was known for its jewellery markets. Every month, the Goblins would present the newest jewellery that Queen Millicent had helped them manufacture. They even owned their own little business. Everyone in Aragon knew their diamond, ruby and emerald necklaces and bracelets, rings and earrings, were the highest quality jewels in the realm. The Goblins themselves were the ones who dug for diamonds in their mine. They had built their business from the ground up. In her spare time, crafty as she was, Millicent would then help design the jewellery. Glancing at the sparkling jewellery outstretched before her, Milah yearned to be able to wear a diamond necklace as her own prized possession instead of having to make do with only the smooth feel of a diamond in her hands. It felt wrong to her to leave them behind. She genuinely despised having to keep herself in check. As Rumple was blind with love, he tended to overlook these superficialities of Milah's.

It speaks to her negative traits that she was almost pleased when Rumple left for the war. She did not pity him in the slightest and only wished him to do his duty cold-heartedly. Rumple had always interpreted this kind of behaviour as "tough love", but there was not much love left for Rumple in Milah's heart at this point. When Rumple thus returned from the war prematurely after a Seer had informed him that Milah was lying on her deathbed, Rumple realised he would never see Milah again lest he return home. Engulfed by fear at the thought of loosing his wife, Rumple inflicted an injury upon his own knee, so he would be sent back home. It turned out that Milah had been severly ill for two weeks with high temperatures and a lack of appetite. However, loyal husband that he was, Rumple found a way to cure her of her illness. In his desperation, Rumple sought out the most powerful magical creature he knew: The Dark One. In the hopes of receiving help from him, Rumple headed to Dark Hollow where the Dark One was known to reside. When Rumple arrived there, he spoke out loud about his troubles:

"Is anybody there? Dark One, I am in desperate need of your help. Please, if you are here, show yourself!" Every word he spoke was echoed a millionfold. Deeper and deeper, he had gone into the Hollow when a gust of wind suddenly blew out his candle, leaving him in pitch darkness.

A booming voice replied out of the blue: "I am here. State your name and business."

Relighting his candle, Rumple went on to explain his situation. The Dark One agreed to help Rumple on one condition. He was to retrieve the Dark One's dagger from a man who had recently come into its possession: the infamous Blackbeard. The former pirate had been forcing the Dark One into committing atrocious deeds against his will during the war, paying no heed whom he was harming. Using the Dark One as his tool, he did not even shy away from murdering young village children should they stand in his way. Knowing that he would be in need of the most powerful magic Aragon had to offer, Rumple saw no other option than to muster all his courage to retrieve the Dark One's dagger from Blackbeard's camp. During the following week, he kept watch on the camp from afar in order to memorise the ritual of the guards. When he felt ready, Rumple then slipped into the camp unnoticed in the dead of night, almost waking Blackbeard. Yet, although it was a close shave, Rumple succeeded in escaping unharmed.

Dagger in hand, he immediately headed back to Dark Hollow as promised. However, the Dark One tricked him. When he appeared in front of Rumple, he asked to be shown the knife. While Rumple held the dagger out in front of him for the Dark One to see, it was the Dark One himself who thrust his chest directly into the blade, falling to the ground with a broad smile stretched across his face. While Rumple kneeled by the Dark One's motionless body, overcome by greef and anguish, the realisation suddenly struck him that he would now turn into the Dark One himself, as he who vanquishes the Dark One will take his place. Rumple had held the dagger in his hand, which had led to the Dark One's death. Thus, Rumple's fate had now been sealed. No sooner had this realisation sunk in than he began morphing into the Dark One. He was transformed into a hideous creature with shrivelled green skin, shimmering in the moonlight. Rumple had taken over the former Dark One's mantle, finally possessing the powers to heal Milah. However, with his newly found magical powers came a price far greater than Rumple could ever have imagined. After he had healed Milah, he began hunting down his aggressors. Everyone who had ever ridiculed him would have hell to pay. As time went on, Rumple became accustomed to his new powers, only using them to make a point against his adversaries. With every dark spell he cast, his soul began to blacken. Slowly but surely, the darkness crept into his very being, transforming him into a soulless monster.

Milah's boredom in her marriage to Rumple was thus soon replaced by fear. She now wished to escape more than ever. When two handsome shipmen paid their realm a visit one day, Milah did not hesitate to take them up on their offer to leave Aragon. The shipmen, one of their names was Captain Liam Jones, had come to this realm in order to retrieve the Dark One's dagger. How they had heard of it and where they had come from was unknown. All that Milah was aware of, was that she needed to find a way to flee from Rumple and Aragon, so she helped the men find the dagger. She knew where Rumple had hidden it in the woods, as he had entrusted her with this information, still believing in her truly loving him. After retrieving the dagger from its hiding place, Milah was only too keen to board the strange men's ship and join them on their journey, although she had absolutely no idea whatsoever where they were headed or whether they were even trustworthy.


End file.
